The Life of Someone Born Different
by Aisu Youkai
Summary: The day I was born it wasn’t a celebration. It wasn’t a party. In fact, all it did was make itself a marker for the horrible events that soon followed. HPFB Crossover
1. The Letter and Remembering

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or Harry Potter, in fact I own next to nothing. If you sue me you will probably end up with a pile of library books. 

This is a Fruits Basket Crossover, if you didn't know that before. To briefly explain some things, the Sohma family is cursed (or at least twelve of them are) to turn into the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The can change into these animals at will, but are forcefully changed into their animal when hugged by a member of the opposite sex (not including other zodiac members) or when their bodies get weak. The dragon has the ability to erase memories and the Head of the family always dies young to 'protect' the zodiac. The Head also controls all the other family members and he is like their God. The cat is another member of the cursed group but isn't included in the zodiac and he has a true form that is really 'monstrous'. He is also not included in several functions that include the rest of the Zodiac, as according to the Chinese folktale. Enjoy the story! Aisu Youkai

The day I was born- it wasn't a celebration. It wasn't a party. In fact, all it did was make itself a marker for the horrible events that soon followed.

Right after birth James picked us up, me and my fraternal twin that is, and handed us to Lily. With a poof of smoke I was changed into the monster I was cursed with. I am, after all, the cat.

After several fights between my birth parents and Dumbledore which left me laying in the corner alone, I was shipped off to the Dursly's house to live.

There, my life decided it wasn't as bad as it could be. At first they spoke in hushed whispers, trying to think of a way to be free of the burden of keeping me under their roof. When they couldn't find a way, I became their slave.

"Monster, get over here!"

"Yes sir." I replied to my captors' booming voice, heeding his call.

"Monster." He slapped my face with a silent rage sending my head into the wall.

"You should know better by now then to try to get help." I starred blankly. What was he talking about?

"Look at this!" He shoved a note in my face, reading it aloud at the same time. It said 'We are coming for the cat. Do not try to run.' It was apparently signed 'the House of Sohma.'

"The freaks won't find you monster, and I'll make sure of it." He probably thinks I knew who sent it.

"You aren't getting free this time." He handcuffed my arms and dragged me by the neck downstairs. He put his face inches from my own and growled before throwing my body of broken bones into the steel cage. To finish what he started, he chained my limbs to the cage itself.

He then stomped up the stairs, closing the door behind him which cut off all the light in the basement. Every time my body was chained and locked in that cage, a little bit of my hope died along with the light that left with the closing of the door. I am almost hopeless now.

However, whenever he says 'you aren't getting free this time' or something similar that has the same effect, he unknowingly reminds me of a short jaunt of freedom I experienced a year ago. It is one of the few good memories I have from this life. It had started out as a regular day, or at least what I considered to be normal.

"Wake up monster!" Master Petunia rapped on my cupboard, waking my from my restless sleep the night before. I still slept above ground then.

I picked myself up from the ground, shakily regaining balance as I walked over to the stove and began my ritual chores.

"Today we are going to London boy. There's currently no one to watch you, as Mrs. Figg is on vacation. Bitch… Leaving at a time like this… Anyway you have to come along. No funny business, no touching girls, and absolutely nothing that could possibly make you show the monster you are. Got me?"

"Yes sir." Even back then his voice had a low growling underneath his words when speaking to me.

Soon everyone but me was fed and we were on our way to London riding in the tiny company car Master Vernon owned. I was squashed in the corner, as I was not allowed to touch Master Dudley, trying to hide the tiny smile that had swept over my face. I was going to the outside.

We ended up going to several stores, getting only the best for Master Dudley. He had gotten top notch clothes, a hair cut, and several video games by that point.

It was then that I noticed a strange light glowing around a shadowy pub called 'The Leaky Cauldron'. I felt a strange feeling drawing me to it, almost similar to a soft nudge between my shoulder blades. Before I had realized that I had moved, I was inside.

Being the five year old that I was, I soon found myself captivated with the unusual happenings going on around me. Cups of a strange orange liquid appeared out of nowhere, stirring spoons stirred themselves, and various sparks were thrown from the sticks of children that looked to just be entering middle school.

Surprisingly, my entrance went unnoticed. These strange people in robes just continued their business and talking to one another rapidly about things I didn't understand.

"The prophet is always slandering anyone the ministry doesn't like. Did you know that a store keeper went to prison because he supposedly doesn't like the father of the boy-who-lived? The fact that he's top auror now might have something to do with that though."

Prophet? Boy-who-lived? Auror? Ministry? Most if not all of what they were saying meant absolutely nothing to me. I couldn't understand what they were talking about. I slowly made my way through the crowd, taking everything that I was seeing in, doing my best to understand what I could. It wasn't much.

Then, something more amazing then the cups, the words, and the spark-shooting sticks happened. The brick wall I was in front of when tapped with a stick rumbled, trembled, then moved apart to reveal a bright alley hidden from anyone who didn't have a spark-stick.

I walked in behind the group of redheads that were entering the alley, bringing their own form of chaos with them. Their chaos didn't matter though, as it was little compared to inside the alley. People were half-running half-walking everywhere, rushing to stores and causing a mess of mayhem.

Curious as to why some people were rushing at different stores more then others, I walked into the nearest store with people crowding around it. As it turns out, it was a bookstore. Shelves that went higher then I could crank my neck to see lined the store in an orderly fashion, covered in books that were stacked atop of each other messily out of order.

"Psst!" This sound was accompanied with a sharp jab in my shoulder. Turning around, I saw a boy my age covered in a soft black robe with messy obsidian hair covering his head and blue eyes twinkling with the idea of causing trouble.

"Come with me! I'm hiding from my dad!"

"Sure." I was then dragged to a corner of the store that looked like it had been abandoned for years, barely missing running into several people.

"How come you look like me?" The other boys' face grew solemn, and I could only wonder what he was thinking.

"I do not know."

"Well then… What's your name?"

"My name is Harry Potter." What else could I answer with?

"You mean you are my long lost brother that supposedly died?" I was confused by this statement. I was supposed to be dead? My family thought that I was dead? Strange.

I was then hugged, and I was surprised by that. No one had hugged me before, so this person who supposedly is my brother suddenly hugging me made no sense.

"You!" I man that looked like this boy's father appeared out of nowhere.

"You will leave my son alone! You are going back to the muggle world monster!" The man then took out a wand, shouted a word I do not remember, and I knew to more.

When I woke up again I was in my cupboard, but it wasn't going to be my cupboard for much longer. I was soon moved to the cage in the basement, and my treatment from the masters went from bad to worse. I wouldn't even be allowed to attend school anymore. So I relish that small bit of freedom I had, as it was like a dream to me, one that lets me remember something else other then the slavery I live in now.


	2. The Rescue

Disclaimer-I do not own Fruits Basket or Harry Potter, and I am not making any money off of writing this story. ! Will mean there is a change in a POV at that point in the story. Aisu Youkai

I have been in the cage for what I believe to be five days. He must be exceptionally mad at me, a lot more then usual. The way I can tell the coming and going of the days is only because of the noise echoing above me in the rest of the house, and its periods of silence and frantic movement.

Usually after a couple days of being stuck down here I begin to both curse and bless my catlike similarities that come from the fact that I'm a monster.

They are blessed because they keep me connected to the world. With them I hear the conversations of the people outside the house, I hear cars going by, and I get to know people solely through sound. Their actions, their reactions, everything.

They are cursed for many reasons that do not need to be named, as they are obvious and at the same time painful to talk about.

While I was thinking, my wrist twitched and a shot of pain came from that wounded area of my body. Almost all of my body has felt this throbbing feeling at one point in time. How could it not when virtually all of me is injured?

My hands, feet, and neck are the parts of me that throb and hurt the most usually when I am in here. All of these places are constantly harmed, and on top of that when I am placed in here they are tightly shackled so every twitch is more painful then the last. 

While I was in here focusing on my miserable pain, loud voices sprung up from overhead.

"You freaks were supposed to never bother our family again!" That voice was obviously Vernon's voice, as that tone when speaking to me is a normality. I would know it anywhere.

"I do not know who you speak of. We came for the cat, and that is all. Where do you keep him?" This voice was new, and had a sense of malice chiseling at the edges of it. Who was this person? Was this the person that sent the note? Was this person a part of the house of Sohma?

"You freaks gave the monster to me to do as I please! He is my slave, and I will not let you take him back! He's mine- my possession!" I could easily imagine Vernon's face a bright red, as it is always like that when he yells. Probably from the fact that he strains his vocal chords far to often from activities like this.

"Your possession you say?" I could imagine a smirk, though I didn't know this person's face.

"All the more reason to take him from you." These people seriously are going to take me out of here? That is a miracle! Hopefully they aren't going to use me for research or something like that. That would be awful… Or maybe not. Maybe the research personnel will be nice to me. I will just have to wait and see.

By the time I drew myself out of my thoughts, all was silent upstairs except for a soft patter of some feet making their way towards the basement door.

Akito had decided that I needed to go with him to pick up the cat, just in case he or she decided to change forms and memories needed to be erased. Why else would I be out of school and standing in front of some strange house in England?

I knocked on the door, and a large fat man opened it while screaming something about not buying anything from a stupid cheating salesman.

"We are here for the cursed cat. Where is it?" That was Akito speaking; it's easy to pick him talking out from anyone else in the crowd because he is so malicious and blunt with his words. Sometimes it gets to the point of where it is almost amusing.

"You freaks were supposed to never bother out family again!" Freaks?

"I do not know who you speak of. We came for the cat and that's all. Where do you keep him?" Hopefully I don't end up having to cover up a murder scene.

"You freaks gave the monster to me to do as I please! He's my slave, and I won't let you have him back! He's mine- my possession!" A possession, a slave? What's wrong with this man's mind? He needs some help…

"Your possession you say? All the more reason to take him from you." Forget what I said earlier. They both need help. Badly.

"Why you little!" The man then started running at us, a knife glittering deadly in his hand. After getting a quick ok from Akito, I grabbed the man's head and erased his memories to a point when he was sleeping. The man fell to the floor in less then a second.

We then searched the house. We searched the entry, the living room, the kitchen and dining room, and any other miscellaneous room on the top two floors. To put it simply, we came up with nothing.

Even the pictures held no clue, as in them was only a cow-like child who was constantly being embraced by a woman who resembled a house that was obviously the mother. Even the fat man showed in several of the pictures. Finally we reached a point where the last place to check was the basement.

Akito went in first, but I traveled down the stairs closely behind him. As I rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs, I was disgusted and repulsed by the sight and smells before me.

In front of me was the cat changed into his true form shackled and bleeding in an iron cage; his body was slathered in his own blood, vomit, and other things I would prefer not to name. It was a pitiful and disgusting sight.

"Akito." His name slipped questioningly out of my mouth. "These people… are they human?" Who could do something like this to another person and feel no guilt?

"Yes. They are just on the darker side of humanity." His face had an irritated look on it from my question.

Taking another look, I could only murmur, "The dark side indeed." More like evil.

"Hello." This voice was obviously from the cat, and it was scratchy and worn sounding. "Are you from the House of Sohma?"

"Yes. I am Akito, the leader of the House of Sohma. Hatori, explain the rest while I get the bracelet." I nodded.

"At any point in time there are twelve cursed by the vengeful spirits of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. You are the cat, and as we have now found you we are going to take you to the Sohma Estate to live there."

"You're rescuing me? Really?" The cat turned his marred head towards us, and his eyes were shining with unprecedented joy.

"Yes." Akito answered that snappishly, holding the bracelet in his hand.

"Thank-you. Thank-you so much!" The cat was sobbing and close to becoming hysterical, thrashing and moving as much as the cage and chains would allow him.

While the cat thrashed in his cage, Akito calmly walked up to the cage and slid the bracelet on him while stepping back. Almost immediately an explosion of the traditional smoke followed, evaporating to reveal the cat.

As it turns out, the cat was pathetically thin with his skin spread tightly over his easily countable ribs. Even though this was obviously true, he was still barely recognizable he was covered so much in the surrounding liquids. How could he breathe, or still be alive?

"Hatori, pick up that thing, put it to sleep, and lets leave."

I could only nod, stick a narcotic in the poor creature, and follow Akito out the door. 


End file.
